European Voice: EU member states evasive on shale-gas activities

The European Commission’s attempts to gain an overview of shale-gas extraction and exploration in the EU have not been greeted enthusiastically by most member states. Asked to provide information about shale-gas activities, many member states submitted responses that were incomplete, evasive, and, in some instances, appear to be misleading.

The Commission has been under pressure from environmental groups and some member states to come up with legislation covering the process of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, used to extract unconventional hydrocarbons such as shale gas.

The United States has revolutionised its energy landscape with the exploitation of newly discovered shale reserves, and several member states, notably Poland and the United Kingdom, want to explore the potential of shale reserves. But other countries, including France and Bulgaria, object to the practice on environmental grounds, and have banned fracking.

Although the Commission drew up draft legislation on shale gas, at the beginning of 2014 it decided against taking a legislative approach and instead issued a set of guidelines for member states to follow.

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